Maybin group

Dr Jackie Maybin

• Centre for Reproductive Health

Contact details

• Website: Academic Profile
• Email: Jackie.Maybin@ed.ac.uk

Address

The Centre for Reproductive Health
Institute for Regeneration and Repair (IRR)
4-5 Little France Drive
Edinburgh BioQuarter

Edinburgh

EH16 4UU

Availability

Please note that, due to NHS Lothian IT security policy, I am unable to respond to emails about clinical matters. Please address all clinical matters to my NHS secretary Ms Pam Bell (0131 242 2522).

Group Members

Laura Edwards, Research Nurse

Rocio Martinez Aguilar, Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Catherine Walker, Laboratory Manager

Marianne Watters, Clinical Research Fellow

Bethan Rowley, PhD Student

Research summary

Our mission is to develop preventive and therapeutic strategies for abnormal uterine bleeding (problematic periods). We aim to improve the quality of life of women, which will ultimately benefit wider society.

To achieve this, our clinical team and discovery scientists perform innovative research to enhance understanding of menstruation and associated disorders, collaborate globally, train the next generation of experts and engage with the public.

We have a particular interest in the cause of heavy menstrual bleeding, which has a severe negative impact on the quality of life of many women. We study the physiology and pathology of menstruation to develop new, acceptable treatments for women with heavy periods to minimise the need for fertility removing surgery.

Visit the Healthy Optimal Period for Everyone (HOPE) website

Publications

1. Jain V, Chodankar RR, Maybin JA, Critchley HOD. Uterine bleeding: how understanding endometrial physiology underpins menstrual health. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2022. DOI: 10.1038/s41574-021-00629-4.
2. Hoppes E, et. al. Global research and learning agenda for building evidence on contraceptive-induced menstrual changes for research, product development, policies, and programs. Gates Open Res. 2022. DOI: 10.12688/gatesopenres.13609.1
3. Watters M, Walker K, Murray AA, Nicol M, Maybin JA. Uterine miR-877-3p and let-7a-5p are increased during simulated menstruation in a mouse model. Reprod & Fertil. 2022. Research letter. https://doi.org/10.1530/RAF-21-0112
4. Watters M, Martinez Aguilar R, Maybin JA. The Menstrual Endometrium: From Physiology to Future Treatments. Front Reprod Health, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3389/frph.2021.794352.
5. Sharp GC, Fraser A, Sawyer G, Kountourides G, Easey KE, Ford G, Olszewska Z, Howe LD, Lawlor DA, Alvergne A, Maybin JA. The COVID-19 pandemic and the menstrual cycle: research gaps and opportunities. International Journal Epidemiology, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyab239
6. Reavey J, Walker C, Murray AA, Brito-Mutunayagam S, Sweeney S, Nicol M, Cambursano A, Critchley HO and Maybin JA. Obesity is associated with heavy menstruation that may be due to delayed endometrial repair. J of Endocrinol. 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1530/JOE-20-0446.
7. Reavey JJ, Walker C, Nicol M, Murray A, Critchley HOD, Kershaw LE and Maybin JA. Markers of human endometrial hypoxia can be detected in vivo and ex vivo during physiological menstruation. Hum Reprod. 2021. doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deaa379.
8. Critchley HOD, Maybin JA, Armstrong G, Williams A. Physiology of the endometrium and regulation of menstruation. Physiol Rev. 2020 Jul 1;100(3):1149-1179. doi: 10.1152/physrev.00031.
9. Martinez Aguilar R, Kershaw LE, Reavey JJ, Critchley HOD and Maybin JA. The presence and role of hypoxia in the endometrium. Reproduction, 2020, DOI: 10.1530/REP-20-0268.
10. Maybin JA, Murray A, Hirani N, Saunders P, Carmeliet P, Critchley H. Hypoxia and hypoxia inducible factor-1 are required for normal endometrial repair at menstruation. Nat Commun, 2018, Jan 23;9(1):295. DOI 10.1038/s41467-017-02375-6.

Public engagement

• Development of the Healthy Optimal Periods for Everyone (HOPE) Menstrual health website for patients, public, parents, educators, employers and policy makers.  A collaboration between the MRC CRH and the Young Academy of Scotland. www.ed.ac.uk/hope
• Featured in BBC Radio 4/BBC Sounds series ‘28(ish) Days Later’ in episodes 1, 2, 7, 14, 16&24. March 2022.
• LongCovidPodcast.com ‘Long Covid and menstruation’. March 2022.
• Edinburgh Research Insights Dr Jackie Maybin 'Too much blood: when periods are a problem'. Feb 2022.
• Edinburgh Impact. 'Why talking more about periods benefits everyone'. Feb 2022.
• ‘Typical and problem periods’ animation in collaboration with Cloud Chamber studios. Funded by ISSF3 public engagement with research seed fund. Aug 2021
• Scotsman article, 2020.
• Equate Scotland Podcast 2020.
• BBC Radio 5 Live, 2018.

Collaborators

Internal:

• Professor Hilary Critchley
• Professor Philippa Saunders
• Dr Douglas Gibson
• Professor Alastair Williams
• Professor Neil Roberts
• Dr Sinead Rhodes
• Professor Sarah Walmsley

External:

• Professor Peter Carmeliet
• Professor Kate Sang
• Dr Gemma Sharp
• Dr Alex Alvergne

Funding

Maybin JA, Walmsley S, Saunders PKT, Weir C, Carmeliet P, Pollard J, Critchley HOD. Examining physiological hypoxia at menstruation to define the mechanisms that underpin endometrial resilience and heavy menstrual bleeding. Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellowship. £1,107,751. August 2019 to August 2024.